San José Wind Symphony · 2026-2027 Season
Storytellers
Every concert opens a new chapter, and music brings the story to life.
Five chapters drawn from literature, holiday tradition, mythology, cinema, and community, performed by the San José Wind Symphony.
A Novel Concert
Literature becomes music
- Date & time
- Sunday, October 11, 2026
3:00 PM - Venue
- McAfee Performing Arts and Lecture Center
20300 Herriman Ave., Saratoga, CA 95070
We begin with A Novel Concert, inspired by the words and worlds of some of literature’s greatest authors, including Voltaire, Rudyard Kipling, J.R.R. Tolkien, William Shakespeare, and Herman Melville. Their characters and adventures are retold through music by composers such as Leonard Bernstein, Maxime Aulio, Johan de Meij, Peter Meechan, W. Francis McBeth, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Gustav Mahler. It is a program where the concert hall becomes a literary adventure, and every piece opens a new chapter.
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Overture to "Candide"
Leonard Bernstein, arr. Clare Grundman
The Young Prince & the Princess, 3rd movement from "Scheherazade"
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, arr. Mark Hindsley
The Butterfly That Stamped
Maxime Aulio — Aaron Lington, baritone saxophone
Symphony No. 1 "Lord of the Rings": I. Gandalf
Johan de Meij
Intermission
Waves Toward the Pebbled Shore
Peter Meechan
Of Sailors and Whales, Op. 78
W. Francis McBeth
Finale to Symphony No. 3
Gustav Mahler, arr. Richard Saucedo
Guest artist
Aaron Lington
Baritone saxophone
Grammy Award-winning saxophonist and composer, and Coordinator of Jazz Studies at San José State University. His performing and compositional credits include the San Francisco Symphony, the Count Basie Orchestra, Maynard Ferguson, and the BBC Radio Orchestra, and he was named a 2015 Silicon Valley Artist Laureate. He joins the San José Wind Symphony as featured soloist on Maxime Aulio’s The Butterfly That Stamped.
The 2026-2027 Season
Five chapters, one season
Across the season, audiences experience music inspired by literature, holiday traditions, mythology, cinema, and community.
- 1
Literature becomes music
A Novel Concert
Sunday, October 11, 2026 · 3:00 PM
McAfee Performing Arts and Lecture CenterInspired by the words and worlds of some of literature's greatest authors, including Voltaire, Rudyard Kipling, J.R.R. Tolkien, William Shakespeare, and Herman Melville.
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2Tradition, family, and holiday memory
Buon Natale with Pasquale Esposito
Sunday, December 13, 2026 · 3:00 PM
McAfee Performing Arts and Lecture CenterStorytelling through family, cultural tradition, opera, and shared holiday memories, with a warm Italian Christmas spirit.
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3Ancient stories, mystery, and wonder
Myths and Legends
Sunday, February 28, 2027 · 3:00 PM
McAfee Performing Arts and Lecture CenterGreek mythology, ghosts, the Firebird, and Chinese mythology, closing with the sweeping Dragon Rhyme.
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4Cinematic adventure on a galactic scale
A Galaxy of Music: Star Wars at 50
Sunday, May 16, 2027 · 3:00 PM
McAfee Performing Arts and Lecture CenterCelebrating fifty years of the original 1977 film and the music of the saga, on a full symphonic wind scale.
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5The community's own story
Symphony in the Park
Sunday, July 4, 2027 · 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Oak Meadow ParkOur free summer tradition with the City of Los Gatos: music under the trees for neighbors of every age.
Free community concert — no ticket required.
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Help us write the next chapter
Ticket sales cover only part of what it takes to put a full wind symphony on stage. Your gift pays for sheet music, guest artists, venue rentals, and free community concerts.
SJWS also depends on the generosity of local businesses, foundations, and corporate partners — sponsorship puts your name in front of thousands of Silicon Valley concertgoers each season. We welcome new sponsors for the 2026–2027 season.